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Bowling alone : the collapse and revival of American community / Robert D. Putnam.

Author
Edition
  • 20th anniversary edition.
  • Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition.
Published
  • New York : Simon & Schuster Paperbacks 2020
Physical description
x, 581 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
ISBN
  • 9781982130848
  • 1982130849
Notes
  • "Revised and updated."
  • "With a new preface and afterword by the author"--Cover
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Audience
  • general
Contents
  • Thinking about social change in America -- Political participation -- Civic participation -- Religious participation -- Connections in the workplace -- Informal social connections -- Altruism, volunteering, and philanthropy -- Reciprocity, honesty, and trust -- Against the tide? : small groups, social movements, and the Net -- Pressures of time and money -- Mobility and sprawl -- Technology and mass media -- From generation to generation -- What killed civic engagement? : summing up -- Education and children's welfare -- Safe and productive neighborhoods -- Economic prosperity -- Health and happiness -- Democracy -- The dark side of social capital -- Lessons of history : the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era -- Toward an agenda for social capitalists.
Subject
Genre
  • Bibliography
  • History.
  • Illustrated
  • text
Language
  • English

Summary

  • Updated to include a new chapter about the influence of social media and the Internet--the 20th anniversary edition of Bowling Alone remains a seminal work of social analysis, and its examination of what happened to our sense of community remains more relevant than ever in today's fractured America. Twenty years, ago, Robert D. Putnam made a seemingly simple observation: once we bowled in leagues, usually after work; but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolized a significant social change that became the basis of the acclaimed bestseller, Bowling Alone, which The Washington Post called "a very important book" and Putnam, "the de Tocqueville of our generation." Bowling Alone surveyed in detail Americans' changing behavior over the decades, showing how we had become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and social structures, whether it's with the PTA, church, clubs, political parties, or bowling leagues. In the revised edition of his classic work, Putnam shows how our shrinking access to the "social capital" that is the reward of communal activity and community sharing still poses a serious threat to our civic and personal health, and how these consequences have a new resonance for our divided country today. He includes critical new material on the pervasive influence of social media and the internet, which has introduced previously unthinkable opportunities for social connection--as well as unprecedented levels of alienation and isolation. At the time of its publication, Putnam's then-groundbreaking work showed how social bonds are the most powerful predictor of life satisfaction, and how the loss of social capital is felt in critical ways, acting as a strong predictor of crime rates and other measures of neighborhood quality of life, and affecting our health in other ways. While the ways in which we connect, or become disconnected, have changed over the decades, his central argument remains as powerful and urgent as ever: mending our frayed social capital is key to preserving the very fabric of our society
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Printed resource
Holding libraries

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Location of copy Shelfmark Online location Holdings Notes
University of Manchester Library: Main Library: Blue Area Floor 2 306.0973

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